Gandhinagar, Oct 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) Nearly three decades after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) first came to power in Gujarat, veteran politician and former Chief Minister Shankersinh Vaghela said on Thursday that the Congress can come to power in the state only if it starts preparing its candidates and reconnecting with voters much ahead of the 2027 state polls.
In an interview with IANS, Vaghela, who is in talks with the Congress over a possible return to the party, said the Opposition needed to move beyond last-minute ticket distribution and build a sustained grassroots campaign centred on candidates who were known and trusted by voters.
"I am saying at least six months should be given to a candidate," Vaghela said, noting that early selection would reduce the scramble for tickets and give prospective candidates time to establish themselves in their Assembly constituencies.
His prescription for the Congress is rooted in what he describes as a lack of "human touch" in public life.
A candidate, he said, should regularly meet people, understand their problems and remain present during difficult times rather than appearing only during an election.
"Public life has a lack of human touch, he said, adding that voters should be able to recall a candidate who stood by them during a medical emergency, helped with a child's education or supported a family in distress.
Vaghela's assessment comes as he holds discussions with senior Congress leaders over returning to the party he left in 2017.
He has already held talks with Congress state in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala and other state leaders.
Gujarat Congress President Amit Chavda subsequently confirmed that discussions with Vaghela were underway.
In the IANS interview, Vaghela said the latest discussions were recent and that there was no bitterness in his relationship with the Congress.
He also ruled out seeking an organisational post or personal political position if he returned, saying his focus would be the 2027 election and defeating the BJP in Gujarat.
"My only condition was to replace the BJP government in the state. My present political outfit, the Praja Shakti Democratic Party, would not be brought into an alliance arrangement if the Congress talks materialise. Instead, the party could be merged into the Congress, with a single party and symbol, if an agreement was reached," he confirmed.
The proposed return would mark another turn in a political career that has repeatedly crossed party lines.
Born in Vasan in Gandhinagar district in 1940, Vaghela began his political career with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and later became a prominent BJP leader.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kapadvanj in 1977 and subsequently served in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha from Gujarat.
Parliament records show that he was elected to the Lok Sabha multiple times and served as Union Textiles Minister from 2004 to 2009.
Vaghela broke ranks with the BJP in 1996 and formed the Rashtriya Janata Party.
With Congress support, he became Gujarat Chief Minister in October 1996, serving until October 1997.
His party subsequently merged with the Congress, beginning another major phase of his political career.
He later served as Gujarat Congress President and became Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.
He left the Congress in July 2017 after a bitter fallout with the party leadership and subsequently pursued other political formations, including the Jan Vikalp Morcha and the Nationalist Congress Party.
His latest political vehicle, the Praja Shakti Democratic Party (PSDP), was formally announced in 2024 after an earlier Praja Shakti initiative.
Vaghela had said the party was intended to provide an alternative political platform in Gujarat.
Yet, despite having his own party, Vaghela now says that the larger political objective is to defeat the BJP, which has governed Gujarat continuously since 1998.
He believes the Congress still has an opportunity if it begins preparing early and develops credible local leadership.
He pointed to what he sees as a leadership vacuum created when senior Congress leaders moved to the BJP, saying that the party should identify replacements before vacancies emerge.
"Workers should be promoted on the basis of trust and sustained work rather than merely being considered when an election approaches," he told IANS.
Vaghela also sees a wider political opening ahead of 2027.
He said the Congress should focus on taking its organisation back to the grassroots and making voters feel that the party belongs to them.
He predicted that, if the Congress maintained its current momentum among workers through the 2027 campaign, the BJP would no longer be in government in the state by the end of the election.
"I think with full confidence that there will be no BJP government here," he said.
Source: IANS
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz
This website uses cookies.
